CARE Act 2003 - Letter to Congressman Blunt

May 6, 2003

The Honorable Roy Blunt
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Blunt:

We are writing regarding the Charity Aid Recovery and Empowerment Act
(CARE Act), which the Senate recently passed on a strong bipartisan vote
of 95-5. We understand that you are planning to introduce soon a
version of the Senate's CARE Act, and we urge you to include in your
bill four provisions of the Senate bill that are particularly important
because they provide crucial assistance to charities and the people they
serve:

Restoring $1.3 billion in funding to the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) program

Creating a Compassion Capital Fund to provide technical assistance and capacity building for faith-based and community groups

Authorizing $33 million to establish group maternity homes for young mothers.

While we were disappointed that the "equal treatment" language was
dropped from the Senate bill, the CARE Act as passed by the Senate is
still a crucial bill for faith-based organizations dedicated to fighting
poverty and despair. We will continue to support efforts to ensure
that religious groups can be effective partners with government and
community organizations in providing social services, without
jeopardizing their identity and integrity or undermining the rights and
dignity of those in need.

The CARE Act's restoration of Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funding
to levels promised in 1996 (but since eroded) is a key part of the CARE
Act, especially given our faltering economy and the severe fiscal
crises facing the states. As you know, states use SSBG funds to assist
faith-based and community groups that serve working families, abused and
abandoned children, persons with disabilities, and the frail elderly.
We were deeply disappointed to learn that the Administration has
signaled its opposition to this aspect of the CARE Act.

As early supporters of the President's Faith-Based and Community
Initiatives proposal, we believe strongly that both the private AND
public resources provided in the CARE Act are needed to strengthen the
partnership between the federal government and community-based and
faith-based organizations in their common goal of ending poverty and
despair. It is imperative that government continue to provide support,
including adequate funding, for the religious and community based
charities that work hard everyday to help "the least among us." We
strongly affirm the principle that the work of such groups can
complement but never replace the government"s responsibility in assuring
that the basic needs of all Americans are addressed.

We hope that you will include all four of these important provisions in a
House companion bill to the Senate-passed CARE Act, and look forward to
working with you for swift enactment of legislation to provide
faith-based and community charities that serve the poor with desperately
needed new public and private resources.

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